With the help of his trained hound, Toby, Basil tracks the bat to a human toy shop, but he escapes and kidnaps Olivia. Ratigan uses her to force her father to complete a robot duplicate of the mouse queen as part of his Evil Plan to take over the kingdom. After learning Basil is on the case, the Evil Genius decides to use this as an opportunity to humiliate and defeat his rival once and for all. Basil falls for his trap hook, line, and sinker and, with some encouragement from Dawson, narrowly escapes the Death Trap in enough time to save the queen and engage Ratigan in a Chase Scene by air that culminates in a gruesome Monumental Battle at Big Ben.

This movie was the directoral debut of Disney power duo John Musker and Ron Clements (this one had Burny Mattinson and Dave Michener as two additional directors). Ron & John on their own then directed the film that formally started the Disney Renaissance, The Little Mermaid. From there, they've directed Aladdin, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog, and Moana (the last of which came out the same year as The Great Mouse Detective's 30th anniversary, 2016).

This film provides examples of:

Accidental Misnaming: Basil constantly gets Olivia's surname wrong. Funnily enough, the one time he does get it right is when he's addressing her father.

Adorkable: Basil gets adorably awkward or goofy several times when he's not being unfriendly. Notable moments include after how awkward and tongue-tied he gets after Olivia's My Parents Are Dead moment, his interactions with Toby, and the scene where he's awkwardly trying to cheer up Dawson. "I say...Dawson, old chap?" with a nervous smile.

Adult Fear: Ratigan arranges to have Olivia kidnapped, and threatens to have her fed to his Right-Hand Cat unless her father cooperates with his demands.

Agony of the Feet: Olivia stomps on Fidget's foot while he's restraining her. (Made worse by the fact that he only has one foot.)

Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Professor Ratigan congratulates himself on his outstanding villainy and celebrates with his minions. One of them, Bartholomew, gets so drunk that he unwittingly calls his master a rat (which he is), Ratigan's Berserk Button. He takes Bartholomew with him and serves him up to his pet cat for lunch all while Bart is completely oblivious to this and still singing Ratigan's praises.

More in the original books: the original book series reveals that Ratigan's first name is Padraic, which is still considered canon for the movie although it's never mentioned anywhere.

The name of the Queen of Mice is "Queen Moustoria" is never mentioned in the film but is in the novelization and some spin-off children books.

Miss Kitty's name isn't brought up anywhere in the film, but it can be seen on her character model sheet. Although it isn't likely to be her actual name, but a descriptor.

Always Night. Averted, as the majority of the film (or possibly entire—that last scene is dubious) happens within just a few hours (June 20th-21st 1897, to be precise). Likely the film takes place, at least within two nights, if Ratigan's comment, "We will have our little device ready by tomorrow evening, won't we?" is any indication.

And the Adventure Continues: At the end of the film, Basil gets a visit from a dame who has another case for him to solve. Basil introduces Dawson as his partner on all of his cases.

Aside Glance: Fidget gives one when Ratigan frees him from the cat and begins cuddling him.

Awesomeness by Analysis: This is established right at the beginning where Basil is able to figure out Dawson's profession and where he came from in less then 3 lines of shared dialogue. The speech Basil gives, is, incidentally, the Lambert stitch speech from A Study in Scarlet. Also, Near the end, Basil escapes Ratigan's killer Rube Goldberg Device by setting it off at a very precise moment.

Ax-Crazy: Ratigan towards the climax, when he's enraged and no longer pretending to be a classy villain.

Batman Gambit: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade; when your Arch-Enemy is on your trail, let him find you so you can kill him.

Berserk Button: Calling Ratigan a rat will "upset him", which means he will kill you. It is subverted when Basil tries to press his button by calling him a rat, Ratigan freezes, spawns Technically a Smile, informs him that he would have stuck around to watch his death, but Basil was fifteen minutes late and closes his pocket watch with the most controlled anger in traditional animation.

Big Bad: Professor Ratigan is the kind of London's underworld and the mastermind behind the film's Evil Plan.

Big, Friendly Dog: Toby. The emphasis here is on big, since the main characters are mice.

Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: The idea behind the ballistics test is presented fairly well, but the experiment conducted to determine a match has a fatal flaw. Basil holds the ends of the bullets together, and most of the grooves etched into the bullets by the rifling match, except for few. The problem is, if you turn the bullets around in your head so they're side-by-side as opposed to end-to-end, one would be a mirror image of the other! Thus, a cursory glance at them would be all you need to see that they don't match. If Ratigan knew Basil would make such a stupid mistake when comparing the bullets, this could be a case of Fridge Brilliance, as it implies almost impossibly good foresight.

Ratigan's appearance in the Royal Palace elicits Dramatic Gasps from the crowd, except one little kid who just razzes him.

Fidget does this to Olivia when he imprisons her in a bottle.

Boomerang Bigot: Ratigan appears to despise rats despite being one himself, and calling him a rat is a surefire way to get yourself killed. This is technically averted; it's revealed in the books he really is just a big mouse (which, incidentally, one of his minions says in an attempt to pacify him).

Bond Villain Stupidity: Justified. Ratigan does build a giant death trap that he leaves our heroes in. However, it is explained that he wanted to stay and watch it, but as the heroes arrived 15 minutes later than he planned, he doesn't have the time to stay, as he has to carry out his Evil Plan. So he rigs a camera to capture Basil's dying moment instead.

Bowled Over: Done during the bar riot; one strong mouse's punch sends the bar piano flying into the other band members, complete with the sound of bowling pins as the piano knocks the band members away and breaks apart.

Brick Joke: Right before leaving for Buckingham Palace, Ratigan tells a soon-to-be-dead Basil "Now, you will remember to smile for the camera, won't you?" as he activates his deadly Rube Goldberg contraption which is set to take a picture at the exact moment Basil and Dawson are to die. ...A few scenes later, after Basil's last-minute ingenuity very narrowly lets them escape the trap, he grabs hold of Dawson, catches Olivia and says "Smile, everyone!" as the picture of the three is successfully taken.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Basil is an undeniable genius who, when we first meet him, comes off as quite possibly insane.

Sherlock Holmes himself appears three times in silhouette. In the books, Basil actually lives under Holmes' floor. From his and Watson's dialogue, Holmes is apparently solving the case of the Red-Headed League. And the dialogue is performed by? Basil Rathbone.

Dumbo appears as a bubble-blowing toy in the toy shop that Basil and Dr. Dawson go to.

Ratigan is initially disappointed in Fidget for getting Basil on his trail in the toy shop, and punishes Fidget by trying to have Felicia eat him. He changes his mind when he realizes Fidget can be used to bait Basil later in the film.

Cape Snag: Basil invokes this on Ratigan towards the climax as part of his battle plan.

Card-Carrying Villain: Ratigan likes to talk about how his latest scheme is supposed to be "even grimmer" than his previous ones.

Cats Are Mean: While this Trope appears often in works where the heroes are mice, Felicia is an odd case because her master is a mouse, who uses her as an executioner.

The Chanteuse: Miss Kitty Mouse during the bar scene performs this role by singing a melancholy song in a bar during Basil's investigation. Her appearance is homey, until she discards it to reveal something much more stripperific and shifts into a more high energy fanservice song.

Chorus Girls: Miss Kitty musical numer has also two backup dancers that dance alongside Kitty. They are her twin-sister with a Beauty Mark.

Circle of Shame: Ratigan and his henchman mock Basil after he falls into the trap.

Clock Punk: The robot double of Queen Mousetoria that Flaversham makes for Ratigan.

Clock Tower: The Westminster Clock Tower, home of Big Ben, is the location for the final showdown.

Basil, was that ludicrous series of chemical reactions really necessary simply to prove that a piece of paper was soaked in salt water? note Seeing that most chemists would just soak it in silver nitrate solution and leave it in light to see if it darkens... Complexity Addiction it is!

Ratigan's infamous death trap puts Basil's chemistry set to shame. It is a Rube Goldberg Device that that will trigger several lethal weapons (he couldn't choose which one he wanted) via a marble that will roll down a chute as soon as a record player is finished. It also triggers a camera!

Conspicuous CG: One of the first uses of CGI (after The Black Cauldron) in an animated feature, traced from wire-frame graphics onto animation cels and certainly a far more conspicuous user than its predecessor—where The Black Cauldron mostly limited CGI to special effects and stuff (i.e. glittering stars, chroma-keying smoke into the scenes, etc.), The Great Mouse Detective made extensive and notable use of it in the interior of Big Ben. Very impressive stuff for its time.

Conspicuously Light Patch: In the scene with the tea-making robot, the cup is noticeably lighter than the saucer before the robot picks it up.

Creepy Doll: The dolls in the human toyshop are a little unnerving even before they're smashed apart in the scuffle.

Curb-Stomp Battle: The final battle shows that Basil doesn't stand a chance against Ratigan in a one-on-one wrestle, with Ratigan being several times his size and built like a tank. Good thing Basil can still outwit him.

Diabolical Mastermind: Ratigan, defined by Basil as the "Napoleon of crime" (an obvious reference to Professor James Moriarty).

Dialogue Reversal: When Olivia corrects Basil about her name during the movie, he says, "Whatever." Later, when Basil and Olivia part on good terms and he again gets it wrong, Dawson says, "Whatever."

Disney Death: Basil falls from the clocktower, but manages to fly back up with a piece of Ratigan's contraption.

Disney Villain Death: Ratigan dies when the bell from the clock tower goes off. Also serves as a Shout-Out to "The Final Problem", as Basil goes with him.

Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Basil smokes a pipe while pondering because he is a brilliant English detective. When he's disguised as a sailor, he uses a cigar instead.

Distracted by the Sexy: It's quite easy to miss, but Fidget gets his leg stuck in the floor because he is watching the dancers in the bar scene.

Does This Remind You of Anything?: One hundred percent unintentional, but there's a moment where Basil points to a small circular hole in a pane of glass and calls it "our friend's point of entrance" while sticking Dawson's finger into it. He then shows how if you pull, the glass operates like a door.

Door Handle Scare: When Fidget breaks into Flavisham's Toy Shop with the intention of abducting the owner, he spends several seconds rattling the door handle (which turns out to be futile) before breaking the window and entering with a Jump Scare.

As the standard for Disney animated films, Basil and Ratigan's big fight on Big Ben near the end is accompanied by a strong thunderstorm, which clears up once Basil and Ratigan fall off the clock, and Basil survives thanks to using a piece of Rattigan's getaway blimp.

Also when Basil is first delivering exposition on who Ratigan is.

Ear Worm: invoked Fidget gets "Let Me Be Good to You" stuck in his head and is heard singing snippets of it as he leaves the bar.

Emergency Cargo Dump: When the bat Fidget tires from trying to lose the pursuing detective Basil, he advocates lightening the load: namely, throwing hostage Olivia from the airship. Fiendish Professor Ratigan likes the idea, but throws Fidget from the craft instead.

Basil doesn't appear at all for the first ten minutes or so of the film, letting the plot be established without him. When Dawson and Olivia are at Basil's flat waiting for his return, the movie (and the audience) is completely thrown off by the abrupt entrance of an insane-looking Chinese mouse, brandishing a revolver and screaming "I shall have him!". No sooner do we adjust to this intrusion that we learn that the Chinese mouse is Basil, wearing a realistic mask and a fat suit. But even after this, Basil utterly ignores the entreaties of the heroes to obsessively test his theory on matching bullets, howling in anguish when he is proved wrong and slipping into a spell of depression. It is only after all this that Olivia is able to get a word in and set the plot into motion, but by now we already know that Basil is not your typical Disney hero.

Besides his Villain Song, Ratigan's debut establishes his character quite easily; while threatening Flaversham, he speaks very tenderly about what could happen to his daughter, gently holds the toy he made for her....and squeezes it until it breaks.

Face Palm: Basil during "Let Me Be Good To You" after Dawson starts making a fool of himself.

Fade Around the Eyes: Ratigan does this at the end of one scene. He grins at the camera with a sinister expression as the shot fades to the next scene. His bright yellow eyes are the last things you see.

Family-Friendly Stripper: Miss Kitty's song-and-dance number is period-accurate for Victorian-era England, with her just showing some leg in a leotard.

Faux Affably Evil: Ratigan comes off as rather cheerful and pleasant, especially when compared to Basil (who can be a bit of a smug Jerkass). However, he's also an evil criminal genius who's perfectly willing to threaten a child in order to get what he wants.

Fed to the Beast: Any Mook that upsets Ratigan ends up as a snack for Felicia. This was nearly the Queen's fate as well, but Basil manages to rescue her at the last moment.

Four-Fingered Hands: All the non-human cast members have four fingers; exceptions being Ratigan (a rat) and Fidget (a bat).

Freak Out!: The failure of his plan fills Ratigan with so much rage, he turns feral and savage, dropping to all fours like an actual rodent and snarling when he talks, becoming far more predator-like than he was throughout most of the film.

Fluffy the Terrible: Felicia, a giant house cat that Ratigan flowers with affection and uses to dispatch his enemies as well as any incompetent lackey.

Funny Octopus: One performer in the Bad-Guy Bar is an octopus clown, juggling three balls between his tentacles. He becomes the victim of Produce Pelting from the patrons of the bar who are unsatisfied with his act.

Furry Confusion: The movie has anthropomorphic mice, rats, bats, and lizards (maybe not completely anthropomorphic, as Ratigan proves), but real cats, dogs, and horses, and humans as well.

Genius Bruiser: Ratigan prefers to use his brain to solve his problems (if nothing else than to preserve his image), but he is vastly stronger than any other small animal in the movie.

Getting Crap Past the Radar: For a G-rated movie, this movie has gotten away with a lot of PG and even a bit of PG-13 material. Someone must have been drunk-on-duty to let this into a kid's film.

The stripping mouse named Miss Kitty, with this line "Hey fellas/I'll take off all my blues!" Everything from her bow to her shoes is blue.

"Hey fellas, / There's nothin' I won't do, just for you!"

"So dream on, and drink your beer. Get cozy, your baby's here!" Basil also points out his drinks are drugged. The fact that half the bar is smoking seems to be the least of the worries during this scene.

"Boys, what you're hoping for will come true / Let me be good to you!"

Russian version of the song is even more straightforward, with lyrics like: "I want to be tender to you, I want to love y'all!"

French version of the song goes even a step further by translating the main verse as "Laissez-moi vous gâter" (Let me spoil you). When you are old enough to know that the associated substantive "gâterie"(a treat) refers to a blowjob, it ruins your childhood movie.

Basil:(to Olivia) Young lady, you are most definitely not accompanying us, and that! Is! FINAL!

(Cut to Basil on the case, accompanied by Dawson and Olivia)

Basil: And not a word out of you. Is that clear?

Giving Them the Strip: When Rattigan's cape gets caught in the gears of Big Ben, he (narrowly) escapes being crushed by ripping off the the cape.

The Glomp: Basil is uncomfortable when Olivia glomps him after he agrees to take the case, but is a bit more accepting when she hugs him at the end of the movie.

Good Is Not Nice: Basil comes across as somewhat rude, especially early in the film, which makes him a good contrast to the Faux Affably Evil Ratigan. Fitting, since the original Holmes can be somewhat of a JerkassSmug Snake himself at times. Although he does slowly grow out of it, as seen when he tries to comfort Dawson. Granted, he doesn't actually apologise for his rant, but it's clear from the look on his face that he regrets being so harsh.

Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Basil smokes a pipe while Ratigan smokes a cigarette (complete with long stemmed filter a la Cruella de Vil). When Basil disguises himself as a thug, he swaps out his pipe for a cigarette.

Gratuitous Laboratory Flasks: Basil has a chemistry setup in his home, which he uses to determine that Fidget's burglary list has come in contact with salt water, leading Basil to deduce that Fidget frequents a sleazy pub "where the sewer meets the riverfront." In fact, when Ratigan snares Basil in his ambush, he chides Basil, "Trouble with the chemistry set, old boy?"

Hollywood Glass Cutter: A variation: When Basil and Dawson trail Fidget to the toy shop he broke into, Basil sees a hole drilled into the window—a small hole, the size of a single finger—and immediately realizes that's how Fidget got in. Dawson wonders how anyone could fit through such a tiny hole. Basil demonstrates by popping Dawson's finger into the hole, then using that finger to pull the window open on its hinge.

Homage: "Elementary, my dear Dawson". The entire movie, really, especially one scene where the silhouettes of two men who are obviously Holmes and Watson are visible discussing a case. The Holmes expy even shares a name with probably the most famous actor who played Sherlock. (So would that make this a Holmsage?)

In fact, in The Adventure of Black Peter, Holmes mentions he's known as (Captain) Basil around the Sumner area, though that much is coincidence. There's also Toby the dog, whom Holmes used in The Sign of the Four.

I Am Not Weasel: The professor HATES being called a rat; he's a "big mouse". This is actually true in the books - in the film, anatomical clues make it unlikely at best.

Basil and Dr. Dawson grab it pretty hard in the toy store by not realizing that someone had to have set off all the toys' mechanisms and that they didn't just wind themselves up. Basil should have instantly realized that whoever turned them on must have done so to provide cover for himself, and Dawson messed up by just letting Olivia wander off by herself.

Basil again. When he finally discovers Ratigan's hideout, he insists on going in alone with just his good natured but inexperienced new parter, instead of also bringing the police or some other form of backup in case Ratigan discovered him and had too many goons with him or if there was a trap set up for him. The latter of the two is what happens.

Ratigan's intelligence tends to drop considerably when he's very angry, causing him to act on impulse several times to his own detriment.

I Have Your Wife: Ratigan kidnaps Olivia (a daughter in this case) to make Flaversham cooperate.

Indy Escape: Basil and Dawson running away from a large Ferris wheel toy rolling in their direction in a toy store

Infant Immortality: Olivia doesn't die but she is put in life-threatening danger several times. Most notably she is almost crushed to death by the clock gears in Big Ben, saved literally at the last second by Basil. Ratigan also threatens to kill her unless they let him escape.

Insistent Terminology: "I AM NOT A RAT!" note Ratigan has five fingers on his hands, er, forepaws, while all the other real mice have four fingers. Not to mention his yellow eyes, sharp teeth and thicker tail. This is different from the books, where he really isn't a rat.

Intoxication Ensues: Dawson, after drinking a drugged pint of beer, is so tipsy that he forgets the mission and starts can-can dancing.

Ironic Echo: Basil's ringing of Ratigan's little dinner bell (as Ratigan would use to call Felicia) before Big Ben strikes the hour, the bell's vibrations knocking Ratigan off to his demise.

Jump Scare: Twice by Fidget; when he breaks into Flaversham's shop in the beginning of the film, and when he hides in a cradle while inside the human toyshop. Both times include a Nightmare Face.

Karmic Death: Just as Ratigan used a handheld bell to execute his incompetent followers, he dies when the bell from the clock tower goes off.

Ratigan is one of Disney's largest. In fact, Vincent Price said that this was his favorite role, and that he had a lot of fun with it. What's more, he also professed to being "flattered" that all of Ratigan's songs were written specially for him so that he could act as over-the-top as possible. Mr. Price was prone to making wild, over-the-top hand gestures and such while acting, which the animators worked into Ratigan's character as well.

There's also the incredibly expressive, hyperactive unless quite visibly depressed, always overdramatic Basil himself. Barrie Ingham (Basil's voice actor) was also given to dramatic gesturing. The animators had lots of raw material to work with!

Basil's most notably hammy moments are:

"Young lady, you are most definitely not accompanying us! AND THAT IS FINAL !!!

and...

"Set it off now. Set it...off...now? . (laughs madly) Yes, yes, we'll set the trap off NOW!!".

Basil, Dawson and Olivia all have their own respective themes that frequently show up in the film's score: Basil's theme is also used as the main title music, Olivia's is also the tune her father's dancing music box mouse plays, and Dawson's theme prominently features a bassoon.

Ratigan has two themes; a solo clarinet and a dark french horn/bass combination.

Mouse World: The film is set in a world occupied by mice that fits the trope's description. They even have a queen counterpart.

Ms. Fanservice: Miss Kitty. Her only appearance in the film is her putting on a burlesque performance while stripping from a dress to a showgirl outfit, earning quite a bit of cheers from the bar patrons.

Musical World Hypothesis: The film is Diagetic: all three songs (not including the reprise of "Goodbye So Soon" over the credits) happen in the story. Miss Kitty is a bar singer, there's a record player, Ratigan's minions indulging his vanity, etc.

My Parents Are Dead: Basil, depressed about failing to catch Ratigan yet again and playing the violin to console himself, dismisses Olivia's request that he find her father with, "Surely your mother knows where he is." Olivia responds, "I don't have a mother," and Basil's playing comes to a screeching halt.

The first meeting between Basil and Dawnson reflects the first meeting between Holmes and Watson in "A Study in Scarlet". In both cases Holmes/Basil calls his future partner a "Doctor" and explain how he deduced he was a Doctor and that he just came back from Afganistan.

Toby is Holmes's dog from the story "The Sign Of the Four".

Holmes is voiced by Basil Rathbone (who played Holmes in 14 movies!) and his lines are from the story "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League". Basil himself is named after Rathbone.

The final fight between Basil and Ratigan reflects the final fight between Holmes and Professor Moriarty in the story "The Final Problem".

No Kill Like Overkill: Ratigan's intent with the Death Trap he's constructed for Basil is thorough. Unable to decide which method to eliminate Basil with, he simply uses all of them: Snap his neck with a mousetrap, shoot him with both a derringer and a crossbow, bisect him with an axe, and finally flatten him with an anvil. All of these objects are human-scale.

Not Distracted by the Sexy: Basil isn't the least bit distracted by Miss Kitty's burlesque performance. Lucky too, since he notices that his drink is being drugged.

Not Good with People: Basil is downright rude towards Olivia and seems to be very very uncomfortable while trying to cheer up Dawson.

Nothing Personal: Implied by Ratigan towards Dawson; as he sets the Death Trap, he tells him, "Sorry chubby. You should have chosen your friends more carefully." (Or maybe he just decides to kill him For the Evulz.)

Off-Model: The very unfortunate DVD cover that was formerly at the top of this page. See its completely different art style here◊. Then there's the current DVD cover artwork. Basil and Olivia don't look too bad, despite Basil having five fingers (usually he has four) and Dr. Dawson's eyes looking rather odd.

Offstage Villainy: Ratigan lists his previous villainous exploits in his opening song (The Big Ben Caper and the Tower Bridge Job), but as his Card-Carrying villainy would suggest we never get to see them.

Panty Shot: Olivia, a few times. It's most notable when Fidget shoves her into the bottle.

Paper-Thin Disguise: Basil and Dawson's sailor disguises are poor and this is Lampshaded by Ratigan. It's odd considering that Basil clearly has much more convincing disguises at his disposal, such as the large Chinese mouse he was dressed as earlier in the film when he was introduced. Perhaps he didn't expect to be abruptly confronted by Ratigan in person, but that hardly fits with Basil's usual tendency to consider all possibilities.

Parent Service: Miss Kitty musical number "Let Me Be Good To You" will go right over the heads of children. Thus, it was clearly meant for their parents.

Perma-Stubble: Ratigan looks like he has stubble but this is technically just the fur color.

Precision F-Strike: A G-rated version, with Basil's "DRAT!" among finding his two bullets don't match.

Primal Stance: When Ratigan's animal rage returns him to all fours while attacking Basil, also exposing his claws and baring his teeth.

Punny Name: Many in the foreign language editions — besides "Ratigan". For instance, the Italian Dawson is named "Topson", with "topo" meaning "mouse."

Red Eyes, Take Warning: If Ratigan's body starts to quiver uncontrollably and his eyes become blood-red, START RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE!

This is used as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit of foreshadowing early on in the film. When we are first introduced to Ratigan, after he has just completed his Villain Song, he turns to Fidget, asking if everything is going as planned. When Fidget nervously reveals that he accidentally led Basil onto their master plan, Ratigan momentarily flies into a blinding rage, his eyes glowing a deep, bloody red, going so far as to sic Felicia on Fidget. But once Ratigan realizes that he can use Basil's involvement to his advantage, his rage subsides, but the redness in his eyes lingers until the next scene.

Royals Who Actually Do Something: Downplayed but the Queen is seen helping tie up Ratigan's mooks. She can also be seen helping with trying to restrain Ratigan before he escapes.

Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts: The clock tower ends up being a huge death trap. It doesn't work, but man, if someone didn't outdo themselves thinking it up.

Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Basil, a Good Is Not Nice detective, has a tendency to be brusque and unconcerned with others (he has No Social Skills), while Dr. Dawson is an AdorkableSensitive Guy who gets involved in the adventure to begin with because he can't stand to see a little girl cry. Given that this is a Sherlock Holmes story with mice, the dynamic between Basil and Dawson mirrors the one between Holmes and Watson (particularly the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce versions). This being Disney, he (and Olivia) wind up defrosting Basil.

Sapient Eat Sapient: Although cats and dogs are less anthropomorphic than smaller creatures, Felicia still emotes to a considerably human degree, and appears to explicitly understand Ratigan's instructions and plans. (Specifically when it comes to who and who not to eat.)

Basil: You've sewn your torn cuff together with a Lambert stitch, which, of course, only a surgeon uses. And the thread is a unique form of cat-gut, easily distinguished (aside to Olivia) by its peculiar pungency (to Dawson again) found only in the Afghan provinces.

She's Got Legs: Miss Kitty the bar singer has some of the most shapely, curvaceous legs ever animated and has a showergirl skirt to showcase them

Shoo Out the Clowns: Ratigan dumps his lackey Fidget (who provided most of the film's comic relief) out of his dirigible, into the Thames River. That's a big clue that things are about to get dark and intense. Cue Villainous Breakdown and Nightmare Fuel inside Big Ben.

Basil: Most assuredly... you insidious fiend. You're not my Royal Consort! You're a cheap fraud and impostor. A corrupt, vicious, demented, scoundrel. There's no evil scheme you wouldn't concoct. No depravity you wouldn't commit. You, Professor, are none other than a foul stenchus rodentus, commonly known... (Basil pops out) as a sewer rat!

Sissy Villain: Ratigan (before he turns into a psychotic, feral rat at the end) is quite possibly one of Disney's most cold-blooded villains... and yet he surrounds himself with pink and purple fabric, fashionable capes, and sings songs while being carried around by his hired boys.

Slipping a Mickey: Basil and Dawson are given drugged drinks sometime in the bar. Basil is Genre Savvy enough to test his drink first, but Dawson isn't so fortunate. Oddly enough, it doesn't really do much but make him tipsy, and it wears off almost immediately.

Smug Snake: Ratigan is standing on the veryedgeof the clock hand after Basil has fallen off, and as he's laughing in victory, he doesn't notice that the clock is chiming the Westminster Quarters... In general, this is what Ratigan is at his core. He just manages to hide it very well.

So Much for Stealth: Basil and Dawson are creeping through the toystore when Olivia activates a music box.

Staggered Zoom: Done on Ratigan right before he goes nuts during the Big Ben scene.

Steam Punk: The robotic Queen Victoria duplicate and its control system that Flaversham built out of cobbled-together gears and toy scraps commonly found in the 19th century, as well as Ratigan's favorite mode of aerial transportation, can only be explained as this.

Stepford Smiler: Ratigan's a Type C, the Mask of Sanity type. He's truly a savage and feral monster under that veneer of wicked cultured.

There Is No Kill Like Overkill: The Death Trap Ratigan puts Basil and Dawson in consists of a mousetrap, gun, crossbow, ax, and an anvil. Apparently, he couldn't decide which method of death was best, so he used them all.

Thrown from the Zeppelin: Fidget the bat is forced off his boss's zeppelin to "lighten the load". He has a crooked wing so this is still dangerous for him.

Title Drop: The last line of the film. The original title would have been "Basil of Baker Street", the name of the book series. Characters utter "Basil of Baker Street" quite frequently throughout the film, so if Executive Meddling hadn't changed the title, there would have been a lot of title drops!

Poor Bartholemew. He was a little too fond of the drink for his own good and pressed his bad boss's berserk button.

Also, poor Olivia. It's best not to wander off from the detectives protecting you when there's a kidnapper on the loose. She almost dies several times because of this, and the only reason she doesn't is because said detective gets to her in time, each time.

Triumphant Reprise: "Goodbye So Soon" is recorded by Ratigan in a mocking tone as Basil and Dawson are awaiting their doom. During the credits, the song is reprised by a chorus in a more upbeat, celebratory tone.

Unconventional Vehicle Chase: Ratigan flees with Moe Olivia as his hostage in an airship powered by a bicycle-like assembly at its tail. Ratigan is pursued by The Hero Basil of Baker Street in a makeshift helium balloon powered by jetting the gas from the balloon's bottom. The chase runs a merry distance over London; Ratigan's Fidgit-powered craft jettisons Fidgit, and Ratigan himself propels the craft, while Basil's balloon stays close behind despite bleeding off copious amounts of helium.

Underlighting: Underlighting was used in a very subtle manner. It provided the glow for the coals when a character was smoking a pipe.

Victorian London: This is the main setting of the film. Specifically, this is during a time the Mouse Queen's Diamond Jubilee coincides with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: The film has a strong, Genre Savvy villain in Rattigan, but his bat lackey Fidget has a crippled wing and peg leg (while far from incapable of real villainy) and is funny and not near as threatening by comparison.

Villain Song: "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" has Ratigan recount his past criminal successes and history with the detective always hot on his trail, while his minions feed his ego about how evil and brilliant he is. "Goodbye, So Soon" could count as well since it is a smug component of a death trap for said detective.

Villainous Breakdown: Ratigan, towards the final battle, turns from a formal and composed rat into a hulking and monstrous one. It's even the trope's picture on the film page! It is made even more frightening is the fact he was previously so Faux Affably Evil. It serves to show just how insane and feral his breakdown has left him, especially since he had, up to now, succeeded in keeping Olivia and her father separated from each other. When he sees Basil successfully reuniting them before his very eyes, and thus depriving him of what little victory he had had left, this accelerates Ratigan's breakdown.

World's Smallest Violin: A surprisingly literal example, as Basil is a mouse playing a violin just his size... It is played straight in that Basil is ignoring Olivia for his violin playing as she tries to tell her story.

"Ratigan, no one can have a higher opinion of you than I have... and I think you're a slimy, contemptible sewer rat!"

Wretched Hive: The seedy pub. They DO serve Rodent's Delight, after all...

Writers Cannot Do Math: Really, Basil... just what is "the square root of an isosceles triangle", exactly? (Maybe Basil just is so much smarter than us that he knows how to calculate the square root of an isosceles triangle!)

Xanatos Speed Chess: Ratigan and Basil are good at this. Ratigan when he realizes Basil is hot on his tail (no pun intended), and Basil when escaping Ratigan's trap.

You Can Leave Your Hat On: The Bad-Guy Bar has a burlesque performance (consisting of a juggling octopus and a trio of period-accurate strippers) for entertainment. You know, for kids.

Community

Tropes HQ

TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy